Territory
by BlackBear53
Summary: Back in the 1870's there were no Federal Agents but there were Federal Marshalls. Callen is a Marshall in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ride with me back in time for an adventure. Callen started talking and I had to listen and he hasn't stopped talking yet.
1. Chapter 1

Territory

Chapter 1

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico stand above the desert like cold ice over the warm sand. They are mirrored by the San Juan Mountains across the Rio Grande about fifty miles apart. Living in the mountains of New Mexico tends to be a lonely existence for anyone who settles there. There is perhaps one man per one hundred square miles. Pueblo Indians live in the valley but tended to shy away from the white man. Most of the settlers like the solitary life. Some live there with their families, but not many. It was still the Wild West in the truest sense of the word. Indians roam the hills and as long as the white man behave themselves and treat the natives with respect all went well. Settlers living in the area are always on the lookout for wolves, bears and mountain lions that would endanger their families and livestock. Most here have a horse, chickens and a couple of cows. Some have sheep as well. Many of the Pueblo Indians raise sheep in the valley.

The summers in the mountains are steamy warm and the winters are frigid. The pines that grow on the sides of the mountains keep it cooler in the summer and the snow from drifting too deep in the winter. It is beautiful country but a hard place to live, but people still move into the area to live the life they dream of.

Autumn arrived and the oaks and aspens that grow in these mountains begin to change. The fiery yellow hues of the aspens and the golden brown and cranberry red of the oaks give the area a wash of color against the dark green of the pines growing up the mountain sides. The air grows crisper and cooler as the days march on and to the few settlers who live here it's just a matter of time until the first snow flies.

Molly Reynolds knows all of this. She lives in a cabin up the mountain from an area that the Indians called Gods Fire. Every morning the sun comes up looking like a cauldron of fire, hence the name. Molly had just finished hauling fire wood to her cabin for the day. She'd do it again next week to keep the pile by the door, across the front and down the side of the cabin full to keep the cold at bay during the upcoming winter. There were other chores to do before this day closed.

The life of a homesteader is hard and for a widowed homesteader, even harder. Evan Reynolds, her husband, had died last year when a tree he was cutting fell on him. Molly buried him behind the cabin and still waited for a traveling preacher to come and say a few words over him. Molly came from Philadelphia with Evan who'd looked for a new life for them and their future family. That was two years ago and she'd spent the last year here alone. Molly had a good relationship with a Pueblo woman, Grey Wing, which staved off a deeper sense of loneliness. Grey Wing lives in the valley with her people. It seemed beneficial for both women. Grey Wing had married into the pueblo in the valley below from the pueblo further south. She had also felt alone so when the opportunity came for friendship arose both women jumped at it.

Molly spent the morning mixing up bread dough and stoking the stove to bake it. She'd just put the first loaf in to bake when she heard a whinny of a horse outside her cabin door. She knew it wasn't Patsy, her horse, as she was up in the pasture up the hill, grazing. Maybe Grey Wing had come early for her visit. It didn't matter. She'd go to the door with her rifle. She reached down to wipe the flour from her hands on her apron, picked up the rifle and opened the cabin door with the rifle to her shoulder. What stood there made her drop her rifle from her shoulder.

A black stallion stood across the yard, stamping his foot and whinnying. He looked like he'd been ridden hard and long between being cared for. He wore a beautiful saddle with a rifle scabbard and a very nice Indian horse blanket. Behind the saddle sat a bedroll and a set of saddlebags. All of the items were nicely tooled leather and Molly was sure it had cost a small fortune. There was a canteen that hung from the saddle horn with the stopper hanging from it, empty. Molly scanned the yard for sign of the rider but there was no one there. The horse belonged to someone and it definitely was not the Pueblos, this horse was a fine horse, an expensive one, not one of the wild mustangs.

Molly took a moment to go back inside and check on her bread. It was done cooking so she took it out and placed it on the table to cool and went back out to the yard to corral the stallion and take his saddle off. She curried him and took his equipment to the barn. She felt whoever had lost the horse would be back to look for him.

Running a farm, even a primitive one like Molly's, took a lot of work. Moving hay in for the cow and her calf, oats for the horse, not to mention feeding the chickens took time. Now she had two horses to feed for however long the owner took to come and claim him. She placed two other loaves in the oven and began to clean up after the baking. Molly had just put a kettle over to heat water for dishwashing when a thought came to her; if there was a scabbard for a rifle, where was it? The kettle came off the stove and Molly waited impatiently for the two loaves to finish baking and then walked back out to the yard where she'd found the horse. The way the horse had stood implied that the horse had come down the mountain so Molly then walked up the hill. Since it was afternoon and Patsy had been here since early morning Molly, being practical, decided to bring her down. No sense coming back up here again later. As she walked she scoured the hillside for a sign of the rifle. She didn't like the idea of a firearm misplaced.

Patsy grazed at the far side of the pasture where good green grass grew. As Molly made her way through the meadow to her horse, she noticed an area where the grass was disturbed, matted down. She marched by it to Patsy. She knew that deer, elk and sometimes bear bedded down up here. She'd spooked deer and elk here often enough. Patsy walked toward Molly and Patsy nuzzled her cheek as the woman reached up to caress the horses face. She turned to walk her horse back down to the barn when she noticed something in the disturbed area. There was something blue lying there in a heap. That heap was a blue shirt and in the shirt was the body of a man. Molly had found the owner of the horse.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A/N Thank you for the nice reviews and favorites. Dramamama here is the chapter as requested.

Molly let go of Patsy and ran to the lifeless form in the grass. She feared he was dead and she while hesitated touching him she leaned in to see if he was breathing and noticed the marks on his face from a beating he'd taken maybe a week or more ago. Most had faded to the greenish yellow color of old bruises. There were a few cuts and scrapes on his face and hands. Many on his knuckles looked like they had been made fighting back. His clothes were tattered from the beating and from riding through thick brush and wooded places. His chest showed more signs of the brutal beating he'd withstood. There were marks along his ribs and she hoped none were cracked or broken. He must have tumbled from his horse as the horse moved downhill to the farm in search of the food he could smell.

Molly couldn't just leave him here. He needed to be moved down the mountain to her cabin for care but Molly had no way to move him. There was no way for her to carry him or even get him up on Patsy. Against her better judgment she left him and took her horse down to the barn to hook her to the wood cart. Molly still didn't know how she'd get him into the cart or even if she and Patsy could get the cart up the hill.

As she came out of the barn with the wood cart she thought to use to bring him down, Grey Wing rode into the yard. The Indian woman sensed her friend's anxiety. "Molly, what bothers you?"

Molly didn't know how to explain her predicament to her friend as Grey Wing didn't understand very much English and her own Pueblo was not that good either, so she opted to take Grey Wing up the hill to the pasture. They left the cart and walked up the hill together.

Molly saw the shock in Grey Wings face when she saw how battered the man in the grass looked. That quickly passed as the native woman assessed the damage and made up her mind how to help both the man and her friend. She motioned down the hill again.

Grey Wing had travelled up the mountain with goods to trade with Molly; a warm robe for the cold winter, and some venison that had been dried and preserved to keep it from spoiling. Molly had made scarves for Grey Wings children and the bread she baked that day would go with Grey Wing along with a dozen eggs from her chickens. All that Grey Wing had brought with her rode on a small travois behind her horse. Her husband had seen it used on one of his trips to the north and taken the idea for travelling with their children. Grey Wing and Molly unloaded the travois and then brought it uphill to the damaged man.

When the man was on the travois, Molly ran down the hill to ready the cabin for him. He needed a comfortable spot that would support him and that meant her bed. While it troubled her, the need to make him well and get him on his way was more important to her so she shoved the idea of a man in her bed aside.

Grey Wing arrived at her door and both women lifted the reddish haired man off the travois into the cabin and into the bed. She'd already been here too long so Molly gathered the scarves, eggs and bread in a basket for her and sent her on her way before her husband came looking for her. She waved as Grey Wing rode away and stayed outdoors until her friend passed the outcropping of rocks at the turn of the path and she couldn't see her anymore. Molly knew she practiced avoidance but also knew that she was the one that needed to do what needed to be done so she returned to the cabin and began figuring out how to help the stranger.

The man and her husband had been about the same size so she opened the chest where she'd packed Evan's clothes away and picked out a shirt to replace the blue tatters that he wore. He'd change his pants later when he could stand. Holding the shirt in her lap, Molly sat in her rocker thinking about the last time a man had been in the cabin with her. Her thoughts brought her back to her husband. Evan had been a good man, a good husband, but moving here had un-nerved her and for months it hung in the air changing things between them. As the reality set in that they'd never go back east and that their relationship was doomed, Evan died leaving her with more quiet. She just now was getting used to the solitude and quiet and now this man had literally fallen into her life. All of it shook her sensibilities. "Get on with it. He's just a man, a man who will heal, gather strength, say thank you and then leave. That's what men do." It shook her to hear herself speak. She rose from the rocker and put the kettle over to warm, found bandages and checked her patient once more.

She made an assessment of his injuries: none seemed too bad, just not tended too. She had to wonder why he didn't wake when Grey Wing and her picked him up and placed him on the travois and then the bed. Molly's nerve began to wag as she took the tattered shirt from his body. There were more tatters than shirt so it came away quickly. The body beneath it was manly, muscular, like he worked to keep it that way. Her eyes scanned his body for more injuries but didn't find any. His hands didn't seem like a farmer's or a cattleman's; there were no calluses but there were many bruises on them. She wondered what he did for a living.

The kettle began to rattle a bit and she knew the water was now hot enough to wipe away dried blood and dirt. So she began to clean him up. There were a lot more bruises and cuts along his arms and chest than she'd seen up in the meadow and it concerned her as to how this had happened to this strong and able man. She replaced the dirty water with cool, clean water and began to wipe his lips with the cool water and hoped to get some into the man. His lips parted as if asking for more so she kept wetting his lips. He began sucking on the cloth but it was done instinctively, not consciously. Again Molly wondered what had happened to this man to put him out in the mountains in this condition and without a weapon to protect himself.

Everything about him was a mystery. He had an expensive saddle and saddlebags and when she took the blue tatters away the label in the collar stated that the shirt had been made in San Francisco. It was nice linen not the inexpensive cotton she saw in the trading post. His hands were not rough like most men out here, they were smooth and the nails weren't ragged. His hair was well kept. She imagined him clean shaven, not with the scruffy beard he currently wore. She knew that eventually all these questions would be answered but not today.

Molly turned her back on her patient. She had more chores to end her day such as making supper and in case the stranger in the room woke there should be soup so she opted to make a chicken soup to go with the fresh bread.

While the soup cooked she went out to feed the horses, gather the chickens so that the fox wouldn't get them and milk the cow. It was getting dark now and the lantern in the cabin would have to be lit and the fireplace restarted to warm the cabin before bed. She laughed a little as she remembered a word from her mother. "A woman's work is never done." It seemed more so when there were no men in the house but she had grown used to it. But when she entered the cabin again she remembered something else, the stranger's rifle. Everything he owned had a sense of being well cared for. She was sure that would be taken good care of as well. Where was that rifle?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thank you to Dramamama5, Caro99, G Cllen and Knirbenrots for the wonderful reiviews. Hope this one mets with your approval Wink, Wink

The Stranger's Point of View

I woke in a cabin with no idea how I got here or even where here is. All I know is that I'm warm and comfortable but thirsty. My mouth feels like the desert and my body calls for water. I looked around and found a nightstand by the bed and but didn't find any water on it. My foggy brain wants to get out of bed to get some but my pain-ridden body won't cooperate. I hurt everywhere. While trying to get up I spot a woman across the room from me sitting in a rocking chair, asleep. She obviously had been knitting as a basket sat on the floor with needles sticking out of it and balls of bright colored yarn that coordinated with the mittens that she'd finished. There were several sets of those colorful mittens sitting on top of the yarn. She wore an Indian blanket across her lap and a shawl across her shoulders. Her pulled up hair was chestnut colored with tendrils hanging about her face and her skin that, while it had seen sunlight, was still a paler shade, a lighter tan. Her hands crossed over her lap and she sat hunched over in her relaxed state. I must have made a sound because all at once her eyes flew open and met mine. Hers were brown and almost matched the color of her hair.

She rose and came toward the bed. "It's nice to see you awake." As she came forward she did those womanly things like checking her hair and if she found a stray one she pushed it behind her ear. She straightened her skirt and blouse as she came nearer. I found her to be an extremely attractive woman.

She smiled as she said it but it came off as a sigh of relief. I guess I might have been a bother however long I've been here. Just how long has it been since….Santa Fe?

"It's nice to be awake. Where am I?" I'm still tired and in pain but need to know where I am and how far I am from Santa Fe.

She stopped just short of the bed. "You're in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in a place the Pueblo call God's Fire. I found you in the meadow higher up the mountain. You must have fallen from your horse. He's in the barn at the moment. All of your equipment is in there as well. I just couldn't find your rifle. I've looked for it but it's not anywhere to be found."

I nodded to her. "Thank you for all of your help and please don't worry about the rifle, it's not here. It was taken from me as well as my side arms."

She moved closer to the bed. Her face wore a look of worry. "How are you feeling? Can I do anything for you?"

I smiled back at her. "Yes, I need water but before that I need the privy."

She came even closer. "Can you walk or do you need help getting there?"

Since my body was not working for me I asked for help and I watched her face fill with consternation. She still came to help me though. "Where's your husband?" I'd noticed a wedding band on her left hand.

"Evan died last year and I'm here alone. We'd best get you to the privy or else wash day will be here sooner than I want." She chuckled but I still sensed a bit of wariness about her.

She leaned in to help me stand and I felt how strong she was but I was also pretty sure that she hadn't carried me down any hill. I put my arm around her shoulder and felt her cringe at my touch but she didn't shirk her duty. It was like she silently spoke to herself to keep moving and doing what needed to be done. "And who am I leaning on for my walk?"

She blushed a bit. "Molly Reynolds and what's your name?"

I wasn't sure that I should tell her. If it slipped out that I stayed here with her she might be in danger. The people who did this to me wanted me dead and I'm sure they're still looked for me. "I'm not sure I should tell you."

I felt the ire like a cold shower that my answer had caused.

She tensed, stopped moving but then thought better of it. We were just a few steps from the privy when she next spoke. "You don't have to tell me but I can't continue calling you 'the man' or 'stranger'. Polite conversation will not permit that. Your name would make life so much easier."

I nodded my agreement. "Grisha, you may call me Grisha."

She gave me a smile. "Well , it is nice to know you Mr. Grisha Here we are. I'll wait until you're done and then I'll help you back.

I laughed out loud. "Not Mr. Grisha, just Grisha. It's my given name."

She waited for me to continue but my last name would put her in danger. "That's enough for now." I thought that she'd give me more of an argument but instead she kept moving toward the privy.

A few moments later we walked slowly back to the cabin. I noticed the beauty of the area. Molly's husband had chosen their homestead well. He'd done a great deal of work in the while he lived there. Building a cabin, barn and privy took a lot of work. He obviously knew what he was doing. Molly did too. She kept the place going at least enough to keep herself alive during some very hard winters.

Once back in the cabin, Molly deposited me in her rocking chair and again I had that feeling of relief from her when she no longer touched me. She moved off to begin breakfast. The stove needed to be stoked as did the fireplace to warm the room. It was a chilly morning. Pans began clanging on the stove top as she placed them there to warm them. I felt guilty sitting there watching her as she put log after log in the stove. "I hope you like bacon and eggs Mr…..Excuse me Grisha,"

I smiled up at her."I'll eat just about anything that won't eat me first…except octopus but I'm pretty sure you don't have that here."

She gave a huge smile back to me. "No I don't, but if we were back in Philadelphia you'd have to worry." She turned to face the stove and began to place slabs of thick bacon in the pan to cook.

Biscuits, butter, eggs and bacon have never tasted so good. Before they were even placed on the table the smell in the cabin had my stomach growling and aching for the food she prepared and with that food came a woman with something on her mind. She had the manners to question whether she should ask or not. "I'd give a penny for your thoughts Mrs. Reynolds." Her face came up to meet my eye.

I watched as she argued with herself. "Are you running from the law Grisha?"

I sighed as I looked down at my plate. My explanation would seem hackneyed but I had to give it a shot. "No Mrs. Reynolds, I'm not. I live in Santa Fe and a man there took exception to a decision that I made, that's all."

She seemed embarrassed for asking but it wouldn't stop her and I couldn't blame her. She's a woman living out here alone and I'm an unknown quantity. Am I a good man or not?

She glanced around the room for a moment as if she were remembering things. "Are you trying to reading my mind? By the way since we seem to be on first name basis you may call me Molly." She waited a few moments while I finished my eggs. "I have questions and you may not want to answer them." She walked to get the coffee pot off the stove and offered me another cup. "How did you get so brutalized? When I found you I thought at first that you were dead."

I hated the fact that I would lie to her but there was no other way around it. "I fell off my horse." It was a simple lie but one that did not put me in good graces. She didn't believe me for a minute.

Molly grimaced with anger and then got up to clear the dishes from the table. She steamed as she moved around the cabin. When she returned to the table I saw a great deal of determination in that woman. She met my eye with a stern gaze."If that is what you want me to believe, alright, but just so that you know, I know what a beating looks like." She took the coffee things from the table and moved to put the kettle over to heat water.

While I'd lied to her it was for her own good and mine as well. The men who had done this to me weren't done with me. They're still out there looking for me and I needed to stay hidden as long as it took to heal. I also hoped my friends would find me.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A/N To all who reviewed, Mucho Gracias. It's slow going and this chapter is rather short but necessary to move the story along. Enjoy our blue eyed man. He is charming here.

After breakfast I moved to the chair on the porch. It seemed better if I kept my distance and left Molly alone for a bit; her dish washing seemed a bit.. agitated… and I knew that more questions were bound to come. I just had to wait for her to bring them to me.

After a while she came out carrying a basket. She still seemed a bit steamed with me so I said nothing. She gave me a look that gave me sympathy and what for in just one glance, but she carried on. "I'm going to the barn to see to the animals. Do you want to go back inside to rest for a while?"

I shook my head no and let her go. That is one proud woman and I knew that I would have to come clean to her sooner or later. I was beginning to feel tired but the sun felt glorious so I stayed where I was, napping. After a while I woke and could see Molly filling oat buckets for the horses and throwing feed for the chickens. She moved the cow and her calf out to the area next to the barn to feed on the green grass there. She then disappeared further into the barn for a while. Two cats followed her out trying to trip her up when she reappeared carrying a basket of eggs, a bucket of milk and an apron full of apples.

She moved past me and on into the house. I heard chopping on the chopping block and moving about the kitchen. Then there was wood being loaded into the stove and smoke pouring from the chimney. I wondered what she was doing and thought about going inside but my mother had always warned me about being underfoot so I stayed out where it seemed safe. The door finally swung open and Molly came to stand next to the chair. She looked out over her farm as if to survey her kingdom. She never looked at me but spoke to me anyways. "You're welcome to come in and have coffee and pie." She went back inside. Her words were cold but I still took it as an invitation, so I shrugged and shuffled in slowly.

She motioned to the table and to the cup sitting there. I sat down and she came with the pot and two plates and then she went back for a nice warm apple pie. She sat down across from me and cut into the pie. As she passed my slice to me she looked up at me before asking her questions. What the look meant I couldn't tell you but she moved on to her questions. "What kind of decision could you have made that got you so badly beaten?" She waited only a second before asking her second question. "Why would it make someone do that to another human being?" I guess she felt I wouldn't answer so she plowed right on through. "How long before I found you did that happen?"

Before I could answer her questions I needed one of my own answered. "How long have I been here?"

Molly picked up her coffee cup and looked over it at me. I sensed her emotions at play but what exactly were they? "Three days, I found you three days ago and I have no idea how long you were riding before 'falling' off your horse."

I surprised me that I'd only been here three days. I think it had taken me about a week to get here. Sketchy memories blurred as I thought, but a week seemed reasonable. "It was at least a week. I came up from Santa Fe after escaping from my captors." I took a moment to get my bearings and began telling her what I remembered. "I rode Devil hard and fast until we hit the mountains. That was when I started to become feverish and shortly after that I grew incoherent for the rest of the ride. Devil got us here somehow. The next thing I remember is hitting the ground as I fell from Devil but don't recall anything else until this morning." I looked into her chestnut colored eyes and smiled. "Thank you for finding me."

Molly blushed and looked down into her cup. "I couldn't just leave you out there. I'd gone up to get Patsy and there you were."

I queried her with my eyes and then with my nervous voice. "Patsy?"

Molly realized that I didn't know the name. "Patsy is my horse. I brought her down and stabled her before I brought you down."

My curiosity got the better of me. "If you didn't use Patsy to get me down, how'd I get here? I can't believe you carried me."

She didn't know what to say. My questioning of her flustered her. "No, I didn't carry you. My friend Grey Wing helped me with her horse and travois. She arrived just as I brought Patsy down."

My face must have shown my concern. It seemed like something that could be dangerous for both of us. "She won't tell anyone will she?"

Molly nodded. "Yes, but just her husband Tall Feather and he won't tell anyone. He's not exactly fond of our friendship. He'd prefer that his wife have Pueblo friends not a white women."

I smiled at her to alleviate her worries but inside the idea that someone else knew about me gave me reason for grave concern. If Alexander Bixby found out about Grey Wing and harmed her he could endanger the entire territory. Relations with many tribes in the area were tense. Bixby wouldn't care and there would be an incident leading to an Indian War and that would be disastrous. I couldn't let that happen. I needed to get a message to Hetty to explain the situation but unfortunately I had to recuperate first.

Molly stood up to take the coffee things away. I quickly drank the rest of my cup and handed it to her. She gave me a once over as if to say she didn't know if she trusted me and if it were known I'm not sure I'd have trusted me either. She put the things in the sink and pumped water into the kettle. It is a pretty ingenious thing having water come into your home. Evan Reynolds had been a clever man.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Molly's POV

The next week Grisha grew stronger and began moving around the farm. I sensed a restless feeling about him but he took care to cover it up. He took over the care of the horses, the cow and her calf, by taking both Patsy and Devil up to the pasture to feed and the cows to the grass near the barn. I still fed and watered the chickens, collected the eggs, cleaned the cabin and cared for him. There was still some pain that showed in the winces and grunts but the bruises were fading just not as rapidly as I'd like. He really didn't need my care but I still wanted to keep an eye on him. His company, until recently, was something that I didn't know that I craved and would continue to enjoy it until he left.

While I didn't think he was a farmer or rancher, he knew his way around horses. I'd worried in the beginning about having him here but there hadn't been anything to worry about. He kept me company and carried a bit of the weight of the farm but there was nothing untoward in his behavior about me and I found myself enjoying his company in the evenings before bed. I still slept in the rocker which isn't exactly comfortable and to his credit he did offer the bed back to me but he still needed it more than me so I said no.

He began fixing things around the stead. My buckboard's wheel came loose and he put it back on the axle. Having my buckboard back meant I no longer had to walk to the trading post in the valley. I'd begun to run low on a few staples and yarn and would go down the next day to trade for those.

Friday night we sat before the fireplace and Grisha read a book that Evan had purchased before he died. I was knitting a cap to take to the post to trade tomorrow. The really cold weather would set in soon and the people in the valley would need my scarves, hats and mittens.

Grisha looked around the room as if he saw it for the first time. "Evan did a nice job with this cabin, the whole farm actually."

I smiled at his compliment but shook my head. "Evan didn't do this. He inherited the property. His Uncle Jamie owned this place and had done most of it before we got here. He made a few changes such as the pump for water and remade the privy but he spent most of his time improving what we already had. We were going to build in the meadow above while living with Jamie. We were on our way here from Philadelphia when we were met by a telegram from God's Fire that told of Uncle Jamie's death and that the farm had been bequeathed to Evan, his favorite nephew." I looked into the flames in the fireplace and continued knitting.

Grisha must have sensed that I hadn't finished my thought for he closed the book and turned to face me.

I met his look with a smile and he gave me a look that asked me to continue. I felt like I was stumbling trying to tell my story to Grisha. "Don't get me wrong, Evan was a good man, a good husband and a good provider. I loved him…" I hesitated for a moment before going on. I blinked back tears. "I just didn't want to be here. I broke our gaze. "There are times when I still don't."

Grisha moved his chair to face mine and me. He looked deeply into my eyes. "Why is that? You seem so at home here."

I looked away to blink away my tears and then met his eyes once more and felt all the pain I'd felt before his arrival coming back to me. "I never wanted to come here. My family is back in Pennsylvania. Both my parents died last year and so did Evan. I've had no closure on any of them. My two sisters live back East and I can't visit them because if I go home… I won't come back here. As for being at home here, do I have a choice? I'm becoming acclimated to this harsh life and yes I'm good at it…but I'm alone and I hate it."

Grisha rose from his chair and crouched before me, taking my hands."You don't have to be alone. I'm sure there are any number of men who would want you in their lives. You just need to meet them."

I laughed a cruel, heartless laugh. I felt my anger at being left alone out here had finely been given its freedom. "Really, I run a farm on my own from dawn to dusk and knit at night till my eyes slam shut to trade for the things I can't do on my own. Tell me, please, when do I have time to go out and meet people?" "I'd unleashed all my anger on a man who meant well for me but I felt no remorse for it.

Grisha sat back on his heels, still holding my hands. I'm sure he had thoughts of how to handle this situation. So he tried to calm me. "I forgot you don't live in a town like I do. How often do you get down to God's Fire?" His eyes held mine for a moment and looked away. I don't think he'd expected this fire from me.

My anger abated a bit but not that much. I looked down to see that he still held my hands. It was the first time in a week that he'd touched me and it felt like a strange interlude. My thoughts, though noticing the hands, were really on what he asked and I needed to think of when the last time I'd been to the town. "God's Fire? I went down about three months ago. Every once in a while I'll need something from the trading post and I'll go down. I usually write a list of what I need, bring my knitting and eggs to trade and come back. Now that I have the buckboard it won't take as long. Why do you ask?" My tone hadn't really gotten any nicer because I still was angry, sad and alone.

Grisha didn't say anything at first. He let go of my hands, stood and went to the door. "You need to meet other people, not just men. You need friends. Living alone for the last year was probably not the best for you. Have you written to your sisters to come here? They might like the area."

I missed his hands the moment he withdrew them but he was being kind to me and I couldn't expect more. "Both my sisters have declined visiting. It is too wild here for them and to be honest they're afraid to leave Philadelphia. They both have small children and stodgy husbands who I expect wouldn't let them come anyway. No, they won't come and definitely wouldn't like how I live."

He turned to look into my face and gave a brief but sad smile. "That's their loss, for both, missing their sister and the beautiful country that's here." With those words he grabbed his coat and walked out of the cabin.

I packed up my knitting for the evening, banked the fire, lowered the lantern for when he came back in and got into my bed clothes. I think I was asleep in the chair before he came back.

In the morning I was in my bed and he was nowhere to be seen. The fear that he'd left in the night hit me like a ton of bricks. Where was he and what had I done?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

To My Guest reviewer: Don't worry the rest of the team is coming. For all the others that have reviewed, Thank you!

Grisha's POV

I stood out on the porch and listened as Molly moved about inside. I felt like a hypocrite for the conversation we'd just had. I understood loneliness. I knew what it felt like to be alone in the world and all I could say to her was 'Get out and meet people.' If I could I'd keep her away from those people who would hurt her, take advantage of her or worst of all take her away from me. I knew that I had feelings for her. I'd been trying to deny it to myself for the last week. Taking her hands tonight was a foolish thing for me to do. I'd fallen in deeper. My god what was I thinking?

Loneliness is a sadness that you can't fill. I spent years alone until I met my mother, Hetty. She saved me from a life of total loneliness. She gave me a purpose. She gave me friends that I love and love me back. I hoped that sooner or later they'd find me and help me to get back to Santa Fe. Oh I could go there by myself but I would probably end up dead. Now I didn't want to do that. I wanted to clear my name and take down Alexander Bixby and come back here to Molly if she'd have me.

I looked into the night sky and saw all those stars and they gave me hope. They gave me the freedom to wish for a life with someone I loved. The heavens are full of them out here in the mountains. In Santa Fe you don't see as many but up here, millions. It makes you feel small and insignificant. That is exactly how I felt now, small.

The horses were unsettled so I made my way to the barn. Devil must have sensed me and let out a small whinny. Patsy never made a sound as I came in to see Devil. My bedroll hung there and I touched it. It was time to give her bed back. I didn't need it anymore and it was really ungentlemanly of me to keep it so I made my mind up to tell her so. She had also gave the impression that it might be time for me to go so I checked out my equipment and decided I'd leave in the next few days. I needed to see Hetty anyway so there was my excuse to leave. I put my face against Devil and felt the warmth and strength of a good horse. Inside the cabin was the warmth of a good woman. It seems I need that as well.

I grabbed my bedroll and headed to the house, but once again got waylaid by the stars. The chair on the porch was comfortable and I sat there for I don't know how long drinking in the beauty and the solitude of the night sky. I think I was avoiding Molly.

After a long while I went back in. Molly was asleep in the rocker and I just couldn't stand the thought of another night in the uncomfortable chair for her. I picked her up and placed her in the bed. She never made a move to stop me. I guess the release of anger tonight had exhausted her. I moved away from the bed and turned to see her roll over to face me. Her face was beautiful in the dim light of the lantern. I turned it down to save the oil and watched her from the rocking chair for a while before I unrolled my bedroll next to the bed and lay down to sleep. Sleep was distant tonight maybe it was the release that I'd given myself by allowing myself the freedom to love and protect her.

I must have dozed off and woke before dawn, rerolled the bedroll and pushed it under the bed. I threw a couple of logs in the stove to warm the stove for breakfast and a couple in the fireplace to take the chill off the cabin. Molly slept through it all.

My horse needed some exercise and I needed to feel him under me. It has been only a short time since I fell and I still hurt in many places but I needed the ride to prove I could get back up on Devil.

I headed up the hill toward the meadow and across the ridge that ran above the farm. It was a gorgeous ride through the pines listening to the wind whistling through them. I felt the wind in my face as Devil worked his muscles. That same wind whipped through the trees and knocked down many of the leaves as we rode by. The colors were passing quickly with the wind and by the end of the day most would be gone and then the snow would start in a couple of weeks. It was still a breathtaking ride. I made it a short one because I didn't want Molly to worry when she didn't find me there. I finished currying Devil and threw some oats in his bucket and a few for Patsy too. I'd be back out in a while to take them to pasture so I spent that time rehearsing my conversation with Molly.

I came back to the cabin ready to face Molly and my past. I wanted her to know more about me like how I met my mother and how she saved me from society, jail, my self-destructive self, but most of all my loneliness. I'd treated Molly's solitude like was her fault and maybe in a way it had been but I gave her callousness instead of help. She needed to know my intentions were sincere.

Breakfast waited for me when I entered. Molly had already eaten and she had dressed up for a change. Instead of her normal black skirt, apron and plaid blouse she wore a brown skirt and a beige blouse and no apron. A coat and bonnet lay on the chair. "Going somewhere?"

Her eyes lit up and a huge smile graced her beautiful face. "Our conversation last night made me see many things and one of them is that people are not going to come to me. I need to go to them make friends and then some will come here. You were right and it's time. So I'm going to the trading post for a few things and then to see Grey Wing to caution her about talking about you. I'll be back this afternoon."

Going into town was the last thing I needed to do at this time and her instant about face about people stunned me but I didn't let it show. "You go and have a nice time. I have a few things to do like fix that board on the porch that is loose, chopping wood and possibly a new shelf in the kitchen. Let me help you harness Patsy." I guess my conversation with her would have to wait until later.

I couldn't exactly read what went on behind those eyes but I sensed a bit of disappointment. "Make sure you eat before going out to do those chores."

We brought Patsy and the buckboard out and Molly went to get up to the seat and I helped her up. I might have kept my hands on her waist a few seconds too long but I wanted her safe. I wanted to be there to protect her but I couldn't be seen in God's Fire. "Have a safe trip and come home soon."

She waved as she drove off. My worry went into overdrive, so I put it to work right after breakfast fixing the porch.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Molly's POV

The ride down to God's Fire was brisk. The wind blew cold up the mountain towards me as I drove down. I was happy that I had chosen my warmer coat and wore my shawl over it. The baskets in the back of the wagon bounced a little but I'd put a couple of towels in with the eggs to keep them whole. The other basket held twenty four pairs of mittens in all sizes, fifteen scarves and twenty hats mostly for men and boys. I hoped that Mr. Winkler could use them all. I needed to trade for hay for the cows and when the horse couldn't go out to graze. I'd also pulled in cut grass for the animals as well and would continue to do that as long as there was no snow.

God's Fire is built on the sides of hills and around a lake. I don't believe that I know the name of it but it is beautiful. I drove past the Pueblo as I headed to the trading post. I'd looked for Grey Wing but didn't see her. I'd check back later for her.

The trading post was busy today and I had to wait for Mr. Winkler to work out my transaction. I needed six bales of hay and a bag of oats, a twenty pound bag of flour and ten pounds of sugar. I also wanted to buy a razor for Grisha but couldn't. I didn't need anyone in town assuming I had a man in my cabin and coming up to be nosey. He definitely didn't need it and wouldn't appreciate it at all.

As I walked around the shop I looked at some of the items the Pueblos had made to sell to the white men. I don't think they made much on it but Mr. Winkler did. The Indians usually traded it for sugar, salt and other staples that they needed. There was a bulletin board that held notices of the territory such as cautions on bears, Indian raiding parties and wanted posters for the territory. I have to admit I usually ignored them but today something made me look. I peered at the notices and there was Grisha only his name wasn't Grisha, it was G Callen and he was wanted for a grisly murder. I had a hard time believing it so I backed away with tears beginning to form but I pushed them back. I couldn't show my emotions in public.

Mr. Winkler came up behind me as I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Shameful isn't it? He's a Federal Marshall in Santa Fe and he killed Alexander Bixby's son in cold blood. I heard that Bixby is looking for him and has a huge bounty on his head. I believe it is ten thousand dollars, dead or alive. You haven't seen him have you?" He watched me for my reaction.

It took me a moment to find my voice. "Oh my… it is totally shocking to be honest. I thought that Federal Marshalls are supposed to be honest, forthright and law abiding. No Mr. Winkler, I haven't seen him and I may go home and make sure my rifle is loaded and ready. Ten thousand dollars you say? Even for that much money I don't think I want to meet such an evil man. Can we get on with our business? I have so many things to do at home." My eyes darted to my buckboard and didn't know if I wanted to go home or run.

We finished our business and the hay, oats, sugar and flour were loaded in the buckboard and I carried the two baskets to the wagon, placed them behind the seat and climbed up. As I began to drive through town I saw Grey Wing going towards the trading post. I pulled off the road and waved her over. She beamed in my direction and then realized that I worried about something. As I pulled her into closer proximity, which is something I never do I whispered to her. "It seems our stranger is wanted for murder. Speak nothing of him to anyone, no one do you understand?"

Grey Wing nodded in response.

I looked down at her and smiled for the people passing by. "Please take care of yourself." I let her go with a wave and that forced smile and drove off to my cabin.

There obviously was a lot of thinking to do on my way home. First of all how could a man as kind as Grisha be a killer? Why would he have killed that man's son? Alexander Bixby is one of the richest men in the territory. It is said that he will be the first governor of New Mexico if and when it becomes a state. What had Grisha's decision been and why?

I think that most of the ride home was in shock and with many thoughts of the man who I'd lived with for the last two weeks. It angered me that he didn't think to share this with me or that he stayed, endangering me and my farm.

Every time I thought of him I remembered his taking my hands in such a caring manner. He didn't act like a killer. He was a kind, sweet man and he helped me around the farm and with my decision to get to know more people. Why would a criminal have me do that? Wouldn't he keep me prisoner in my cabin or on my farm? So much of my thinking didn't match up and I grew confused.

As I neared my farm I began to wonder if I really wanted to go back there but instead I found myself driving into the yard. The firewood had been refilled and the porch had that new board in place. The fireplace smoked which meant the house would be warm and welcoming only it had the opposite reaction for me. It felt cold and distant and it frightened me that I wanted to see Grisha. Was I going to confront him with what I learned today or wait for him to tell me?

Grisha came down the hill with Devil and the cows as I drove in. He left them to come and help me with the wagon. Seeing him caused my anger to spike and my fear to come forth. He reached up to help me down but I'd already headed down the other side of the buckboard. I walked around, picked up the baskets and felt myself almost running into the cabin, slamming the door behind me. I never looked back at the damage I'd caused with my reaction to him.

While I put things away on the new shelf I felt a little bad about my behavior but his lack of honesty angered me and I had to work through that first.

About an hour later Grisha entered the cabin and sat in front of the fireplace staring at the flames. I had started dinner of venison and potato pancakes. Carrots simmered in a pan and needed to be watched. I really didn't want to have this talk right now but it was inevitable and I think we both knew it would come sooner or later.

I placed dinner on the table and sat down. I never called him to dinner but he came anyway. He waited patiently for me to open up but it never came and finally he broke the uncomfortable silence. "What happened in town? Whatever it was obviously upset you."

I met his glance with what I assumed was a sour one as I still fumed at the situation. "I did well at the trading post and met Grey Wing and talked for a moment but by that point it was too late. The trip to God's Fire had been ruined. I found the one thing in the trading post that I could've done without."

He nodded but I knew he didn't know what I talked about. "And that was what?"

I so wanted to cry but I refused to let him see it. I wouldn't cry out of sadness but for anger. I felt fury at being lied to even by omission. "There was a wanted poster…of you, G Callen."

I had to give it to him. He honestly looked confused by my statement. "There was a wanted poster of me, for what?"

I shook my head because I really didn't want to be the one to tell him what I found. "You are wanted for murder and there is a ten thousand dollar bounty for you, dead or alive. What in the world did you do? Was the decision you made to kill that boy?"

Grisha reached across the table for my hand but I withdrew it before he could touch me. I watched his face fall as he pulled his back. "No, my decision was to arrest him for killing a priest on the steps of the church. The priest had called him a sinner for living with a saloon girl and he didn't like it. Jonah Bixby was a hot headed young man and his father's money had him feeling like he could do no wrong. I asked him to put his gun down and he refused. He told me he'd kill me if I didn't let him go. He tried to bribe me but as a Federal Marshall I wouldn't even listen to that. I repeated myself three times and the third time he shot at me and just barely missed. I had no choice but to shoot back and I don't miss. On my way to my office I was taken prisoner and you saw what happened to me during those two days. I escaped and ended up here. Please believe me, I didn't want to hurt that boy but he left me no choice."

I now knew the story but what about the omission? "Why couldn't you tell me that? I would have been okay with it and the poster wouldn't have shocked me so. I must have given the impression of knowing something about you because Mr. Winkler came over to talk with me. I denied having seen you and said I'd get my rifle ready just in case. I literally hurried leaving the trading post after that." I hesitated for a moment and then went on with my thoughts. "Just one thing more…if that is what the world is like I think I like it here better."

He reacted to my quip with a chuckle but when he spoke there was no humor. "I couldn't take the chance that Bixby would harm you. I'm worried about Grey Wing being where I can't protect her. My friends should almost be here and then we can take care of the situation, arrest Bixby Sr. and we can get on with our lives."

Confusion must have been on my face. "Your friends are coming?"

Callen nodded and took a sip of coffee. "They should be here in the next couple of days and then we'll take care of the problem."

Grisha, no G Callen, smiled across the table at me. I reached out for his hand which he eagerly gave.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Knowing that Grisha and I finally could talk about ourselves, his past, my past and whatever the future held, made the next few days easier. We spoke of our families and he explained how he'd met his mother, Hetty Lange. She adopted him when he was fifteen and in trouble with the law. It was the only way the judge would let him go. She apparently turned his life around and introduced him to the life of a law man and to the rest of the Federal Marshalls that he worked with. I would meet them when they got here which he thought would be anytime now. While there was much to talk about, we never seemed to run out of things to share.

Two days later we were eating lunch when we heard horses in the yard. I went to the door to find out who rode in.

Callen called out to me. "Wait!" He reached for the rifle and held it at ready to fend off an attack. I opened the door and there were three riders sitting on their horses. One was a woman, dressed like a man in buckskins, wearing six guns on her hips and a rifle by her right knee. On her head sat a floppy brimmed black hat that was dusty from the ride and over her shoulders was a poncho in black and grey. She was pretty but extremely serious looking. Her eyes were mismatched almost like someone had replaced one of the brown ones with a beige one with an extra bit of color in the white of it. The next rider was a scruffy bearded blond who wore tied down long pistols on each hip and two rifles behind him. His hair looked like he hadn't combed it in a week, maybe more. He was handsome in a lost dog kind of way. The last man was a huge black man. His horse was as big as he was. He wore two six guns, that if he held them, I was sure they'd look like miniatures. His hat covered what I assumed to be a bald head and the eyes didn't miss a thing but I knew that behind those eyes stood a man of great intelligence.

The blond man spoke for the group. "Hey there pretty lady, we're looking for our friend G Callen. Is he about here somewhere?" As he spoke he looked around the farm. His eyes took in everything.

The woman spoke aside to him. "Deeks stop teasing the kind lady."

I looked from her to him and shook my head no. "Don't know anyone by that name. Sorry." I made to turn back to the cabin when the black man spoke.

He cleared his throat. "Hm…Ma'am, he's our friend and we heard he needed help. Please help us to help him."

He was definitely soft spoken for a man so big, but I sensed there could be a real bad side to him as well. I looked him in the eye and repeated myself. "I don't know him."

The woman took off her hat and her hair fell in waves around her shoulders. As she met my stare she smiled. "G is like a brother to me. Please?"

I still wasn't sure of them. Why didn't Callen give them the okay if they were his friends? "I said I don't know him." I motioned for the pathway down the mountain. "Please leave my farm."

The black man didn't buy my story and he wasn't about to budge. He shook his head and smiled. "Devil, his horse, is feeding up in the meadow above with another horse. His gear is hanging in your barn. You still want to stand by your story?"

The door opened behind me. "Sam what are you going to do, arrest her?"

Sam gave a bigger than life smile. "Good to see you G. You hiding behind skirts again?"

All three got off their horses and moved to greet him. Grisha took the time to introduce each one to me. "Molly, this is Kensi Blye, bounty hunter extraordinaire, her husband and Federal Marshall, Marty Deeks from Flagstaff, Arizona and last and certainly not least Sam Hanna, from Boulder, Colorado, the next state to be included in the United States. We are all part of a task force to clean up the territories before they are allowed into the country. We are trying to rid the territories of men like Alexander Bixby, who think they own it and can do whatever they want. But now it's time to talk, let them get to know you and have some fun. Sam did you bring your fiddle?"

The afternoon progressed with coffee and pie and a lot of heads put together to plot and plan how to take down Alexander Bixby and his corrupt system. Their interactions made me wonder how these four people from so diverse lives had come to be a group and who had thrown them all together.

Sam came in from the porch where they'd all congregated and stood there watching me. "Mrs. Reynolds, I want to thank you for finding and caring for my partner."

I'd just put another pot of coffee over to heat and began thinking what I could make for supper when he entered the cabin. Venison stew would be a good, hearty meal. "You and he are welcome but I found Devil first and he led me to Grisha. He lay in the meadow and I couldn't leave him there with the cold night approaching. It's a good thing that you came now for in a week or so we'll have snow." I looked toward the window and the grey sky above. "Will you leave with him soon?" I felt my voice and heart cracking at the thought. I knew he'd have to leave sooner or later; it was inevitable. Men come and go. It'd been that way all of my life, first my father, then Evan and now Grisha.

Marshall Hanna nodded but hesitantly. "Is he ready to travel? I still see some bruising on his face and knuckles. I ask because he'll say he's ready even if he's not."

I'd started cutting the venison and put it in the large Dutch oven to braise. I thought about what the Marshall asked. "He's ready. Every morning for the last week he's taken Devil out for a ride. I don't know how far he goes but he seems more alive when he returns." I hesitated a moment to calm my heart at what I just said. The thought that I said he's ready to leave me stung and I needed that moment to put my emotions back in place. "I don't want him to go because I'm afraid for him. Alexander Bixby is a powerful man here in New Mexico. He'll get his way, he always does."

Marshall Hanna leaned against the fireplace. "Not this time. Hetty Lange, our boss, has been watching him for a long time and she finally has what she needs and with Callen's testimony about the beating they gave him, she'll end him."

I couldn't be sure of it. I feared that Grisha would be killed by Bixby's followers. "He's a powerful man. Please Marshall Hanna, take care of him."

The Marshall placed another log in the fireplace. He smiled and thought a moment. "May I call you Molly? I'd like you to call me Sam. We're both G's friends so let's be less formal. He moved to the door but stopped before opening it. "What's going on between you and Callen, if you don't mind me asking?"

It surprised me that he asked that question. I'd never thought about it until the wanted poster and until that point there'd been an uncertain connection between us. The night when he held my hands woke something in me and I'd not felt that in a long time but still never put my finger on it until the ride back from God's Fire. Evan and I loved one another once but coming here had changed all that. In a way I guess it had killed those feelings. I resented him for it. Grisha came into my life and there were no strings attached, it was just he and me. The wanted poster pushed me to accept whatever those feeling were. I had to give Sam an answer of some kind. "I don't know about Grisha but my feelings are fondness and maybe more. Have you asked him what his feelings are yet?"

Sam nodded at my words. "Not yet, but I will before dinner. He knows I'm stewing on something." He turned and went back out to his friends.

I finished chopping vegetables and finishing up the stew. I let it simmer for a while. Biscuits were next on the menu so I grabbed flour, baking soda, lard, salt and a small amount of milk. As I mixed the biscuits up I thought about what Sam had asked. Did I love Grisha? Is this what love feels like? I'd accepted him into my home and learned to trust him. He took over part of my life, my farm and maybe my heart and right now all I feel is fear for him. Maybe that is what love is about, protecting that someone. I needed time to talk with him but that was running out. If he leaves will he come back? Most of the men in my life never did. My father left when we were young to join the service and came back later. He was so shell shocked he didn't really know my sisters and me. Evan died and now Grisha was leaving. He was spending time with his family for that is who these people are and if he left with them tomorrow I wouldn't be able to say anything no matter what I feel.

Supper was ready and Kensi helped me set the table. Grisha, Sam and Marshall Deeks brought in the chairs from the porch and a small bench from the barn so that we could all sit around the table. Kensi watched as I put the Dutch oven on the table with a ladle for serving. She brought over the crock of butter and the biscuits. "Someday, Callen should bring you to our place in Flagstaff and you could teach me how to cook."

I didn't know what to say. Grisha looked at me with a complete loss of words as well.

Marshall Deeks smiled and embarrassed smile. "Sugar Bear, my mama has said she'd teach you, remember?"

Kensi blushed at what she now realized was her assumption and that it may not be right. "I'm sorry, Molly, Callen, I'm just hungry and this smells so good that my brain just stopped working, sorry,"

Grisha, ever the gentleman, chuckled and the passed her the biscuits and butter. "It's alright Kensi maybe someday Molly will get to Flagstaff, right Molly?"

I nodded although my head roiled in confusion. I took it as a sign to ladle out the stew.

Sam had sat back chuckling. He still awaited the answer to his question to his partner. Callen never answered it.

In my own mind I wondered about the conversation outside and just what his family thought went on here for the last month. I could feel a blush coming on and worked hard to conceal it from them.

After dinner the men moved the chairs around the fireplace and put a few more logs in. Grisha took a moment to place my knitting by my chair.

Sam watched as he did the moving and while he kept his thoughts to himself he smiled as he watched his partner. He didn't need the answer to his question because it was right there in his care of Molly. Hetty would be pleased to find her son had lost his heart to this fine woman. Unfortunately business had to come first. "G, what time do you want to leave tomorrow?"

Hearing him say that put me into a tizzy. I didn't know how to process that thought.

They all sat around the fire while Kensi and I cleared the table. We placed the dishes in the sink and I put water over to heat for dishwashing. I must have gone blank because quite a while later Grisha found me in the barn with only my shawl about me. The temperature had dropped below freezing and the skies were clouding up.

Grisha had noticed that I didn't join them around the fireplace and soon the water had begun to boil. He knew that I never let it boil. When he looked about the cabin he noticed my shawl was missing so he brought my cloak when he came to look for me and placed it around me as he spoke. "Molly, are you alright? I never saw you leave the house." He sat next to me on the bale of hay. "Why'd you come out here? Are there too many strangers in the cabin for you? We can clear out if that's what you need."

I shook my head no. "No, I'm not alright. All the talk tonight about you leaving tomorrow has gotten to me. I knew tomorrow would come but it's still hard for me." I looked into his gorgeous eyes. "I don't want you to go. I'm afraid that Bixby will kill you."

Grisha smiled and took my hands just like that night not so long ago. He looked into my eyes and I felt my world explode with joy. "He won't kill me. The team and I will take him in and he'll go to prison. I won't let anything else happen. Now I have something to live for. Sam asked me a question this evening and it has played in my head over and over. What's going on between us, and until this moment I hadn't answered him because I wanted to know your mind and heart and now I do. I'll be back and we'll either stay here or move to Santa Fe but we will be together. Now can we go get you warmed up?"

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded yes and stood up. He stood up next to me and pulled me into an embrace. I realized I'd been waiting and wanting it for it for a long time. My curiosity got the better of me. I pulled away and looked into his face. "Why'd you try to push me out to meet other men, just curious?"

He laughed at the question. "I meant 'people' not men. After we had that conversation I beat myself up over it. I knew what I felt, I just wasn't sure of you and at the time I didn't think that you knew. Did Sam talk to you tonight as well?" He looked down into my eyes and read the answer there. "Oh yes he did."

We went back in and sat side by side near the fire until we all needed some sleep. The men all went to sleep in the loft and Kensi and I shared the bed. She is an amazing woman but she sleeps like a starfish and I ended up in the rocker again.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The night had grown much colder and the grey clouds that had covered the moon produced light fluffy snow that fell even as we woke. The first snow is pretty and thankfully doesn't last long. Before long the sun would rise and the couple of inches of snow would melt away.

Breakfast was ready and I sat with Grisha's family and tried to enjoy the warmth that came from them but I couldn't. I pushed my food around on my plate and Grisha watched me do it.

The plan meant they all left today to do their jobs and while I knew he had to go, I dreaded it just the same.

Grisha reached over to me and took my hand in his. I met his gaze and he smiled and gave that devilish, smirky grin that endeared him to me.

Sam watched from the far end of the table and I assumed that smile went inwardly at the happiness of his partner. I knew he wished him well.

The door burst open and in strode Tall Feather. You could feel the anger emanating from him like the cold he brought into the cabin with him. He looked at all of us sitting at the table and singled me out. "Have you seen Grey Wing? She left the pueblo yesterday to go to the trading post and never returned. Our children need her."

I looked to Grisha and he felt my worry for my friend. Looking past Tall Feather I saw six more braves waiting in the yard. I looked back to Callen, for Callen he now was and he saw the gravity of the situation. If Grey Wing was not found it would cause an Indian War that the territory did not need or want.

Callen stepped forward. "Tall Feather, Grey Wing is very important to Mrs. Reynolds. My friends and I will find her, you have my promise."

Tall Feather's face turned to a grimace and then to anger. "White men have promised many things to us, why should I believe you now?"

Callen looked to me and I read his feelings like they'd been said aloud. "Because I know how I'd feel if something happened to my woman."

Tall Feather still was not pleased. He nodded to Callen and then moved on. "Know that if my wife is harmed in any way, the men who did it will pay with their lives." With that thought hanging in the air he turned and stalked out, jumped on his pony and his braves followed him down the mountain. He'd left an eerie feeling in the cabin when he left.

Callen closed the door and turned back to us. "Well, Bixby has sure stirred up a hornet's nest up here." His mind worked at full speed. "Sam…you stay here. Find Grey Wing before Tall Feather finds those that took her. We don't need him on a rampage. Keep Molly safe as well.

Deeks spoke up. "Leave me here. I lived with these Pueblos for a year, they know me. I have that connection and can keep Tall Feather on an even keel."

Callen shook his negatively. "No Deeks, I need you to be with Kensi and I. You lend legitimacy to my arrest." Thank for offering but I don't think anything would keep Tall Feather on an even keel right now. How'd you feel if someone took Kensi?" He looked at Kensi and smiled. It would have to be a less forceful Kensi and we all knew it. "No. Sam was always the extra in this. He'll stay back and find Tall Feather's woman."

Deeks nodded realizing that Callen was right.

Sam acknowledged his orders with a nod.

Callen looked around at his friends. "Let's help Molly clean up and then we can pack. We need to leave for Santa Fe as soon as we can and we can't go directly, it will take a couple more days."

Sam's mind had been busy as well. "Molly. Who manages the trading post in the valley?"

I never trusted the man so I was glad to give Sam his name. "Amos Winkler. He has always shorted people on their orders but especially the Indians, oh, and Alexander Bixby owns all the trading posts in the northwest corner of New Mexico. He owns this one, one in Cimmaron and one in Taos. If anyone is behind the disappearance of Grey Wing it would be him."

Sam chuckled at my anger and spunk. "Don't worry Miss Molly, we'll get Grey Wing back."

The men returned the chairs to their places and began packing their belongings in their saddle bags.

Kensi and I cleaned the dishes, wiped them dry and put them away.

Kensi kind of stumbled about the kitchen and my curiosity got the better of me. "You don't cook?"

Kensi kind of mumbled something about Deeks being the better cook anyway. "Deeks knows how to cook and I never learned. I lived with my dad and he did all the cooking, when he cooked. I don't really like cooking."

Suddenly her words didn't match her facial reactions. "Don't like it or not comfortable with it?"

Kensi gave a light blush. "Maybe a little of both. I really meant what I asked you yesterday. Teach me to cook for Marty. I really want to settle down and have that family that he wants. What I mean is that we both want a family. I'm getting a little too old for riding all over Arizona to catch the bad guys."

The tone of her voice made me realize that she really was a woman under the buckskins and poncho. "Kensi if I ever get to Flagstaff I'd love to teach you to cook and I'll be real patient with you."

Deeks poked his head into the cabin. "Sam…" He motioned to the outdoors with a wag of his head.

Sam rose to go out but first poured a cup of coffee and grabbed a biscuit leftover from breakfast. I felt sorry for the woman that had to keep him fed.

Kensi followed him out the door.

Sam motioned for me to follow him outside for the group was ready to leave.

I grabbed my cloak and followed him out to the yard. True to form, this snow was already melting away but before long there'd be more than I could handle. The shovel stood ready behind the cabin door.

Sam leaned against the porch post and waited for Callen to give more directions.

I stood next to him and felt immense sadness at Callen's leaving.

Deeks and Kensi mounted up but Callen turned to me and in his face I read the same emotions that were trying to drown me. He came across the yard to me and pulled me into his arms. I felt the beating of his heart, the rhythm of his breathing, the warmth of his being and felt slightly relieved. He whispered softly into my ear. "I love you and will be back. I don't know when but I will. I promise." He pulled me in and kissed me enough to last until he returned.

I wasn't ready to let him go but knew I had to. "I'm holding you to that Grisha."

He nodded to me with a grin and then waved to Sam who waved back.

Devil waited for him and Callen turned, checked his cinches on last time and then signaled for Kensi and Deeks to ride up the mountain. They'd travel the ridgeline trail above God's Fire until just east of Taos. Then they'd come down out of the mountains and follow the Rio Grande directly into Santa Fe.

The moment they were out of sight I felt the loss of his presence greatly.

Sam moved to my side. "Don't worry, he promised and when he promises he always follows through." He placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "I'm going to hitch Patsy to the buckboard. Feel like heading down to the trading post for a visit with Amos Winkler? It's a good place to start looking for Grey Wing and Bixby's henchmen."

The cows could stay in and have hay to eat; the chickens could stay in their coop. They'd be safe from the coyote and the fox that way. "I'd love to Sam. Let me get my things and we'll be on our way."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The ride down to God's Fire by buckboard is only an hour and a half long and it seemed as good a time as any to get to know Sam. He's always acting in Callen's best interest and is as good a friend as one can have. If Grisha and I were to be together I needed to get to know Sam better. Many questions were asked of the man such as where he met Callen, how long ago was that, and loved hearing about Grisha from him. He had a great many stories to tell about his friend. I asked about Hetty Lange and how she became Grisha's mother. He just chuckled at that question and said it was best if heard from Callen. It was an informative ride if not about Callen then about Sam. He is honest and bright and a good man to have as a friend. Grisha had ended up with a good one. Just before we came into God's Fire he began calling me Mrs. Reynolds again. It perplexed me so I inquired as to why he'd do it. "Sam, I thought we were on a first name basis, why call me Mrs. Reynolds again?"

Sam clicked to Patsy to slow down to a slow walk. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a black man with a white woman. Even though a war was fought over it most people still don't see me as equal. It might be best if I'm considered your driver or a servant. I'll leave here in a few days and go home to my family but you'll be left here with the stigma of being seen as treating me like an equal. I won't do that to you."

While I understood the reasoning for it, I'd have none of it. "Sam, first and foremost, you are a good person. I don't care what color you are. Secondly, you're a Federal Marshall, investigating a crime against my friend Grey Wing. Thirdly and not least of all, none of these fine citizens of God's Fire should say a thing. None of them ever made a move to befriend me so I don't care what they think. They don't have to like me or my friends. So please call me Molly."

We'd just come off the trail and hit the road up by the lake. The snow down here must have been lighter for it was all gone except for under the pines by the road. It took only a few minutes more to get to the trading post and I sure hoped that Amos Winkler had nothing to do with Grey Wing's disappearance. I don't think the federal marshall I was with would take kindly to it if he was.

People coming and going to the trading post stopped as the buckboard pulled into the lot. They stood as if they were glued to their spots and stared at us as Sam helped me down. I knew there'd be talk about us but I didn't care. They could just mind their own business. Many stepped aside and watched us as we walked through the door of the store.

Amos Winkler met us at the door. "Mrs. Reynolds, it's so nice to see you again so soon. How can I help you today?"

Sam nodded for me to continue. We both noticed that Amos intended to ignore him.

I smiled as I looked into Amos' weasily face. I so wanted to slap him, but I curbed that impulse because giving into it would not get us the information about Grey Wing that we needed. "Mr. Winkler, Marshall Hanna and I would like a few minutes of your time."

The title of Marshall shook Amos. I saw him give Sam a sidelong glance, but I also saw fear. "Of course you may have that Mrs. Reynolds."

Sam spoke quietly to Amos. "In private, Mr. Winkler, please."

Amos really looked at Sam for the first time and recognized Sam for who he is: the law. "Come this way Mrs. Reynolds and Marshall Hanna." He showed us into his office in the back of the trading post."

When I sat at Mr. Winkler's desk, I looked about the room. It was dark, dingy and cold, just like the manager of this trading post. Sam stood next to me and gave off a sense of power. It would have intimidated me but I wasn't sure Amos paid that close attention to it. "Mr. Winkler, my friend Grey Wing is missing. Her husband, Tall Feather, is greatly concerned to her welfare and so are we. Can you tell us if you know her whereabouts?"

Amos Winkler is a sly old codger but his poker face needs some serious work. You could almost see him squirming in his seat, his face went pasty white but he still tried to mislead us. "Why would you ask me? I hardly even know her. Maybe she went back to her home pueblo for a visit."

I could feel Sam as he began to seethe but he kept it under control. Winkler was lying and we both knew it. Amos didn't know him well enough to be afraid. "Mr. Winkler, Grey Wing's last stop in her errands yesterday was here. I'm sure you must have seen her. Tall Feather said that his children need their mother and I understand that they are very young. Please be so kind as to help them." Sam spoke to soothe Amos and as a way of cajoling him into giving us the information.

Again Amos denied seeing Grey Wing and my own patience grew short, so I tried a different tack with him. "Tall Feather cam to see me at my home this morning with six braves at his back.."I let that information stew for a moment. "He seemed adamant about how he's going to treat those who took his wife. That is if Marshall Hanna and I don't find her first." I watched his face break out in sweat as he thought about it. "Would you like to know what he intends?"

Amos' face turned white but he kept up his denials. "Mrs. Reynolds, what could he do? We have protection here in God's Fire. Mr. Bixby would never let anything happen to us or his store. God's Fire has welcomed him and he takes good care of us."

I wondered what he would think if he knew Bixby was behind the taking of my friend.

Sam spoke up. He knew where I was headed with my questions. "Mr. Winkler, Tall Feather is going to hunt down everyone involved with the kidnapping of Grey Wing. When he finds them he will kill them, probably slowly and painfully. If you are involved Mr. Winkler, he more than likely burn your fine emporium to the ground while you watch and then kill you." He let that thought stew for a moment and when Winkler's demeanor changed to fear, he went on. "Would you care to change your story?"

Amos' face had taken on an ashen color. He looked about the room looking for someone to save him. "Bixby's men took her to the far side of the lake, to some cabin. They weren't supposed to harm her, just question her. Mr. Bixby didn't want to start an Indian incident but needed some information from her. They were questioning her about some man who is supposedly at your cabin." He looked back to me. "They're coming for you next Mrs. Reynolds."

I rose to leave. "Thank you Mr. Winkler, you may have just saved the lives of your neighbors and the town of God's Fire. Good Day." I left his dingy office and the dingy little man behind.

Sam stayed for one moment longer meeting Amos' eye. "Do not tell them I'm coming. If they find out I'll be back for you. Do you understand?"

Amos gulped and then nodded.

Sam walked out of the office smiling.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sam and I walked out the front door of the trading post to my buckboard. Passersby stopped at the sight of the big man helping me up to my seat and then climbing in beside me. I'd had enough of their insensitivity. "Thank you Marshall Hanna." They turned aside and walked on.

Sam nodded to me with a twinkle in his eye. "Let's go find your friend." He pulled the wagon out onto the main road and headed towards the lake. The ride over had been quiet. I assumed that Sam worked on a plan to rescue Grey Wing so I didn't disturb his thoughts.

When we reached the lake we turned off to the far side and stopped about a half mile up the road. He climbed down to help me down but I surprised him by reaching under the seat for my rifle.

Sam's eyes lit up with surprise. "Well, Well, Well, I say Mrs. Reynolds, you are a whole bunch of surprises aren't you?" He shook his head and chuckled. "I hope my partner knows what he's getting into." He laughed once more then all humor was gone, "Follow me and be very quiet." He thought a moment and turning with a wide grin asked me a question. "Do you need me to carry your rifle?" He chuckled as he walked away.

I hid my purse under the blanket in the wagon and hefted the rifle in my arm. "No Sam, I don't. Let's go get Grey Wing back." I followed Sam down the road to where they were holding my friend.

It didn't take long to arrive at what seemed, at first glance, to be a deserted cabin. It wasn't deserted; there were three horses on the far side of the cabin. One of them, the painted pony, wore an Indian blanket for a saddle and the others had leather saddles for their riders. Amos had been right. No rifles or bedrolls were on the horses so they were inside with Grey Wing. Smoke curled from the chimney and I could smell food cooking.

Sam made a motion for me to stop. He moved around silently to check on the movements of Grey Wing's captors. When he returned to me he whispered about what he found. "Everyone seems to be inside the cabin. I didn't want to get close enough to look in the window and let them know we're here." He looked concerned. "We need to get her out of there without having her coming to harm." He looked back at the cabin, thinking and then back at me, grinning. "How about you go to the door and ask for help with your wagon down the road."

My face must have had a bit of disbelief. "You're having fun with me aren't you?"

Sam's face never changed. "This is the safest way, so no I'm not fooling with you. Can you do this?" He grew more serious as he looked back at the cabin. "When they come out we can take them." He handed me one of his revolvers and took my rifle.

I hid the revolver in the folds of my skirt, under my cloak and moved forward to knock on the door. One of the men came to the door and the other sat at the table with Grey Wing. Both men wore flannel shirts, leather vests, dungarees and their six-guns were tied low on their thighs. Sam had been right we'd need to be very careful to get her out of here safely.

Grey Wing looked up when the man opened the door. She'd started when she saw me but realized why I was there and did and said nothing.

I put on my prettiest smile and asked if these fine gentlemen would help me with by buckboard down the road. It seemed that my wheel had come loose.

The man who'd opened the door turned to his friend and chuckled. I assumed that he recognized me. He grinned back at me. "Sure we'll come and help. We'll get our coats and come right along."

I walked away from the door towards the road. I could still see Sam and hear the two men. "I can't believe she showed up on the door step this is going to be easier than we thought." The two of them came out of the cabin and fell in behind me. I kept walking.

I heard a voice behind me talking to the two kidnappers. "Gentlemen, please stop and put your weapons on the ground and then step away from them. Put them down together please."

I turned holding the pistol towards them that Sam had given me. They look astonished to see it.

Sam held my rifle aimed at them. He motioned for Bixby's men to kneel on the ground and began tying their hands behind their backs. "Molly, go set Grey Wing free. Tell her to take their horses. Tall Feather will appreciate them."

One of the kidnappers spoke up. "You can't do that. Those are our horses and saddles. What are we going to use?"

Sam laughed at them but you could hear the acid in his voice when he next spoke. "You two won't need them where you're going. You are under arrest for the kidnapping of Grey Wing and for almost starting an Indian War because your boss is an egocentric idiot. Tall Feather deserves those horses for the inconvenience that you've caused him and his people.

I handed Sam his pistol back and ran for the cabin. Grey Wing had been tied to the chair so I untied her and motioned her to her horse. I followed her out to her pony and handed her the reins of the other two horses. Her face glowed with joy and she favored me with a huge hug. She'd never hugged me before. She then climbed up on her pony, moving out rapidly pulling the other two horses, giving a war hoop that would make any brave proud. Tall Feather would be very pleased with how this turned out.

Sam began marching the two kidnappers to the buckboard. I followed along behind them. Sam loaded the two men in the buckboard and soon we were back in God's Fire at the sheriff's office.

Sheriff Goodwin had been hired for the job long before Alexander Bixby and he definitely was not his man. He took in our two prisoners and thanked Marshall Hanna for averting an Indian uprising. He'd keep the kidnappers incommunicado for a few days and then take them to Taos to see the judge. He shook Sam's hand and took his prisoners into the lockup.

It was getting late in the day and I didn't like the idea of taking Patsy up the mountain in the dark. Sam and I started back up to the cabin so that we'd get there as darkness fell.

The last rays of sunlight came through the pines as we drove into the yard and let us have just enough time to unhitch Patsy and take her to the barn. We then fed her and the other livestock. I left Sam to those chores while I went in to stoke the stove and light the fireplace to warm the cabin and make dinner. We'd noticed the air grew colder and the sky clouded over so we both thought there would be snow again before morning.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Alexander Bixby sat on the veranda outside of his hacienda looking down at 'his' city. Santa Fe was a thriving city because of all the travelers heading to Arizona and California stopped to refresh their horses and buy more provisions for the last leg of their trip. Alexander Bixby was one of many who took advantage of their needs.

The population of Santa Fe was a conglomeration of Anglos, like Bixby, Mexicans and Pueblo Indians. Many of the Anglos had money, either from inheritance or being self-made by trading with the pioneers moving through the area. Bixby was one of the later. He and his wife, Maria, had come here in the late 1850's. Bixby had seen where the United States were going as a nation and left to avoid the civil war he saw coming. He'd started a trading post here in Santa Fe and then moved his operations out to Taos, then to God's Fire and finally to Cimmaron. Someday Maria and he would make a move to Arizona as well and start more trading posts.

While his life had gone well there was one part that had left something to be desired. He and his wife wanted children and none had come about. Ten years after moving to Santa Fe, Maria discovered she was pregnant and their whole world changed. Their son, Jonah, was born and they were ecstatic. They gave him every advantage that money could buy. He had the best teachers, the best horses and everything he needed or desired.

Now looking back on his brief life they agreed that maybe they'd indulged him too much and given him too much leeway. It had possibly led to his death.

Bixby grew angry at the thought of his son's death. That Federal Marshall would pay for it. The ten thousand dollar bounty on his head would have bounty hunters from all over the territories looking for him. He'd have his moment with G Callen. That thought is what drove Bixby every minute of every day now.

Manuel, his loyal servant, came out with a glass of fresh orange juice and set it down at his elbow. "Senõr, Senõra Maria did not eat breakfast again. Rosalia said this is now three days in a row. We worry about her Senõr."

Bixby nodded his head. He worried about his wife too. Ever since they buried their son, she'd been failing. "I know Manuel, I worry for her too."

It seemed Manuel wasn't finished with his thoughts. "Senõr, we worry for you too. The man who killed Senõr Jonah will pay. He'll rot in hell for his sins and he will live with his conscience for the rest of his life."

The pain that this line of reasoning caused, drove Bixby wild. "That maybe so Manuel, but it is not enough for me. I want to do just what he did to Jonah. I want to kill him but before that I want to make him suffer."

Manuel understood his boss' mindset but in his own mind knew it would not make things better. "Senõr, let the law have him. They will punish him."

Bixby glared up at Manuel. "No, I will have my revenge. I don't want to miss this chance for it. He must pay."

Manuel nodded to his boss. He couldn't change his mind so why try any more arguments. He'd just take good care of his boss. "Si, Senõr."

Bixby motioned for Manuel to go about his duties and sat there for a few moments more. He rose and strode to his office and worked his way, absentmindedly, through some paperwork.

Manuel came to the door. "Senõr Bixby, Senõr Clemons is here with news for you."

Bixby smiled. "Show him in and then bring coffee and pastries."

Manuel turned and left.

A few moments later Manuel showed Mr. Clemons in and to a seat. Rosalia brought in the coffee and set down a platter of pastries for the two men.

Bixby motioned for the two of them to leave and then turned his attention to Clemons

Andrew Clemons was a circuit judge of the Territory of New Mexico. He'd been elevated to the judgeship by President Grant during the last year. He'd also been an important tool in setting up the trading posts in the northern part of the territory. Clemons had also helped set up the bounty on Callen's head, a bounty Bixby would gladly pay to anyone who brought him in.

After coffee had been served and pastry offered and declined, Clemons began to share what he'd learned. "Mr. Bixby, I have good news for you. Marshall Callen has been seen in the company of a bounty hunter, Kensi Blye, near Taos. Another Federal Marshall, Martin Deeks is with them and they are headed to Santa Fe. They should be here within two or three days."

Bixby felt a jolt of joy. He'd have his time with Callen soon.

But Mr. Clemons wasn't finished. "On a less than favorable note, your two men in God's Fire have been arrested for the kidnapping of an Indian woman, a Grey Wing. They will talk and you will be incriminated in their crime."

Bixby's face paled a bit at this news. "Who found them?"

Clemons watched Bixby's face for signs of being involved. He'd then find a way to distance himself from the man if it was there. He saw what he looked for with the paling of his face. "They were found by a Federal Marshall from Colorado by the name of Sam Hanna and a Mrs. Reynolds who is a friend of Grey Wing. It seems we almost had an Indian crisis on our hands." Clemons wondered what Bixby had been thinking and if he cared what his actions could have started or if his need for revenge drove him completely.

Bixby smiled inwardly at the mention of Mrs. Reynolds. If they hadn't gotten anything from the Indian, Mrs. Reynolds was next to answer his questions. Maybe she'd be the tool to get Callen to cooperate. He'd wait and see.

Bixby and Clemons spent the next hour talking politics, about the expansion of his trading posts into Arizona and what the chances of statehood were. Bixby left that meeting thinking it had been amicable and advantageous to both of them. Clemons left thinking Bixby had become a dangerous man and that he couldn't get away fast enough.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Callen, Kensi and Marshall Deeks rode into Santa Fe five days after leaving the farm. It had been a long, cold ride through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Coming down into Taos gave them a bit more warmth but it brought them closer to Bixby which made each of them worry about the outcome of the exchange.

Kensi worried about not being able to protect Callen. She knew that Bixby would have a small army behind him and G would only have Deeks and her.

Deeks also worried about Bixby. He was an angry man and that made Bixby dangerous.

Callen worried that he'd be shot on the spot when they finally met but that was to be seen. Bixby was sure to have a need to chat; dangerous men usually do.

They pulled into Hetty's home on the western side of the city and dismounted. Stable hands took their horses to care for them and the team moved into the house.

Hetty came from her office and welcomed them home. She shooed them to their rooms to clean up and rest if they needed it.

At six that evening, a courier arrived at the door with a message for Kensi, offering a place and time for the exchange of her prisoner for the bounty. It was the Inglesa de la Baptiste. Callen knew the site had special meaning; Jonah Bixby had died there on the steps after being shot by him. The location was suspect and they all worried about it. There would be some cautious conversation about it after dinner.

Callen thought it might be a possible site for an ambush. There needed to be a telegraph to Sam. But even then he'd most likely not get here in time. The message said tomorrow night would be when the exchange would happen.

After dinner Hetty sat back and listened as Deeks, Blye and Callen discussed the possibilities of the swap. Would Bixby's men take Callen as a prisoner? Yes, they might but Bixby would want his pound of flesh, whether it would be first on the agenda or not had her worried. Her concern was whether she'd ever see her son alive again after tomorrow. Most likely not if Alexander Bixby had anything to do with it for the word on the street was that he wanted to kill Callen himself. It would be up to her to see that Callen came out of this alive. She rose from her chair and looked at her people. "Let's get a good night sleep. We'll need to be refreshed, alert and completely aware of all that that will go on in that courtyard tomorrow night." She nodded and Kensi and Deeks rose and went upstairs to their room. It had been theirs since childhood when Hetty took them in. Sam's was across the hall next to Callen's, whose room was next to his mother.

Callen had remained seated when his mother dismissed them and he waited until they left before speaking to Hetty. He looked across the space between their chairs and with a smirk asked the question that had been stewing all night. "What's on your mind Ma?" He'd watched her throughout the evening and knew something bothered her.

Hetty sat next to the fireplace where he ensconced himself. She smiled up into his face. It was a face that she'd known and loved for most of his life and it wasn't a face that she wanted to bury. "Just a little worried about this exchange. It has too many ways to go wrong and I want to insure you come out alive." She gave a motion as if to say I don't know. "I think you'd like to make sure of that too. Kensi mentioned a Mrs. Reynolds while she helped with the tea. Care to share with me?"

Callen smiled into the flames and Hetty could swear that he blushed a bit. It was cute. "Ma...Molly, Mrs. Reynolds, found me and nursed me back to health. I want to go back and ask her to marry me."

Kensi had told Hetty about Molly and it seemed that they all approved of the young lady. She wondered if Callen had pushed her to see all of his imperfections and insecurities. He'd been there a month and a half but it doesn't seem like enough time to know someone well enough to marry them. "Take your time Son. If she's the one she'll wait for you."

Callen shook his head no. "Ma, she's been alone on that mountain for over a year. If she'd had her way she'd have gone back east to her family. I don't want to lose her. Besides I promised to go back. I love her and will go back to God's Fire for her."

Hetty just nodded at him. "We'll talk about this later. Get some sleep and we'll finalize the plan."

Callen just sighed as he knew there would be more to this conversation, but he and it could wait. Callen knew they'd get Bixby and then he'd be going back to Molly. He rose and went up to his room to rest.

Hetty stayed in front of the fireplace drinking her tea and pondering the problem. She planned how the operation should go and never liked any of it. She needed an ace in the hole and she knew who it would be.

The night passed quickly or that is what everyone thought. Hetty's man Duke had made a huge breakfast of eggs, ham, sliced fruit and tea. There was a great deal of food and they ate till they were full. Callen knew that the team wouldn't eat again until the operation was over.

The day passed and every aspect of the courtyard, where the exchange would happen, was examined. Not one scenario ever seemed perfect but one came the closest and that is what all of the team prepared for.

When the appointed time came Callen and Kensi waited by the blacksmith shop in the alley next to the church. The Mercado seemed quiet except for the cantina. Rosita's Cantina was one of the better ones in Santa Fe. The patrons were well behaved and her food rated high with the people of Santa Fe. Deeks was ensconced at the front window waiting for either the sheriff or Bixby to walk through the front gate.

Hetty waited in Dr. Billing's office, quite unbeknownst to Callen. He also didn't know that Hetty's bartender, Owen Granger, sat up in the church steeple in case he was needed.

Callen hadn't heard from Sam since they left him with Molly, but if he knew his partner, he'd be here. Maybe he already waited for them in the square somewhere. It was dark in the Mercado but the church kept torches burning for the poor souls who needed guidance from God. Callen and Kensi searched the courtyard for signs of danger. Kensi and Callen spotted two men on the roof across the courtyard from them and both assumed there were more on the rooftop next to them.

Deeks watched the Mercado as well. He'd noticed men climbing the steps to the far roof as he entered the cantina. He'd also seen the guns they wore and the rifles they carried. He'd have to go and do something about them. Deeks had just brought his sight back down from the roof when Alexander Bixby strode through the front gate of the courtyard. The Marshall stood, pulled his hat down to cover his face, and walked out of the cantina and out to the front gate. Once he cleared that gate he sprinted to the roof top stairs and climbed quietly to the top.

Two men crouched behind the signs with their rifles aimed down at the scene before them. They waited for something but what?

Deeks didn't care. They wouldn't be awake for that signal. He stepped onto the roof and slid in behind the first gunman. Before the man could hear him, Deeks placed his arm around the man's neck choking off the air the man needed to breathe. Marshall Deeks moved to the second man and repeated his maneuver. They'd be out for a couple of hours so Deeks didn't worry about them. He crouched down behind the sign with a borrowed rifle and waited.

Sam, meanwhile, arrived just as the exchange was scheduled to begin. He'd come down the alley on the far side of the church by the stables and looked for the best vantage point to keep his partner safe. There was a staircase to his right so he climbed up to the roof. As he poked his head up over the ramparts he saw two men hunkered down behind the sign for Rosita's, weapons drawn. Sam slipped over the wall and moved silently to the first gunslinger hitting him on the head with his gun butt and moving quickly to the next and repeated the movement. Two gunmen where down and would stay that way for quite a while. Sam then crouched behind the sign and watched the courtyard below. There was movement coming from the far alley.

Bixby's voice boomed out in the semi-darkness of the square. "Marshall Callen, it's nice of you to come. I've wanted to talk to you for some time."

Kensi gestured to Callen to remain silent. She turned to where the voice came from and could just make Bixby out in the dim light. "Mr. Bixby, I had no idea you'd come in person." She looked around for the sheriff but he was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Sheriff Coltraine? I expected him to take possession of my prisoner."

Bixby smiled to himself. There was only this woman between him and his quarry and she'd be no problem. "Sorry for the miscommunication. The sheriff had family problems and couldn't tear himself away." He smirked because he was the cause of Coltraine's family problem. His daughter got 'lost' on the way home. She'll show up as soon as Callen is dead. Bixby took several more steps to the center of the square. "Marshall Callen, please step out."

Callen and Kensi could see him and he could see them. Kensi didn't like Bixby's attitude one bit. He was too cocky. She felt like an ambush was eminent. She hoped Sam had arrived and that Deeks was on his toes and that there were no gunmen left on the roof.

Callen stepped out. To all who watched, he appeared bound but in reality he was free and wore a revolver at his back.

Both parties edged toward the middle of the Mercado. Both parties eyed each other with suspicion and watched for signs of foul play. Seeing none, both went on with the conversation.

It was obvious Bixby had things on his mind. "Marshall, you killed my son, Jonah, in cold blood on the steps of this church. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Callen knew Bixby didn't want the truth. He just wanted his revenge. It didn't matter that his son had killed Father Santiago on those same steps. Bixby just wanted him dead. "Mr. Bixby, your son murdered a priest in cold blood here as well. He murdered him because the priest told him something that your son considered unpleasant. Jonah didn't want to hear how keeping the barmaid as his lover was a sin. That was all Father Santiago said to him. Jonah killed him and it was my job to arrest him and bring him in. That is what I was trying to do. He resisted arrest and tried to shoot me. All I was doing was protecting myself."

The conversation did nothing to appease Bixby. He swallowed his ire and tasted the bile that went with it. He waited a moment to speak and tried to push down the tears for his son.

Owen Granger sat behind the wall of the bell tower of the church. Henrietta Lange's plan placed him there for security purposes. If this exchange began to go south he needed to take Bixby out. He was more than ready to shoot the man if necessary. Henrietta could prove that he'd been causing problems in Santa Fe for the last ten years. People were cheated daily at his trading posts and had been for years and the Pueblo people were treated disrespectfully for those years by his managers. Now he waited for the power to be given to him to run the territory. Owen had questioned for years how he came up with all his money, how he garnered all the information he had and how the legality of the bounty he'd placed on Marshall Callen's head had come to be.

There came a noise in the stairwell leading up to the steeple where he hid.

Owen took his derringer from his vest pocket, cocked it and waited. He knew where his people were and this wasn't one of them. He'd watched them move from where he stood. The sound coming toward him could only mean trouble.

In a moment a head popped over the edge of the staircase and Owen had been correct, it was no one he knew. Owen punched him in the face. A pistol came up in the man's hand, aimed at Granger, so Owen hit him again while bringing both barrels of the derringer on target. The man's gun hand came up again giving Owen no option but to point the derringer at him and empty both barrels into the man. Owen watched as the stranger slid back down the stairwell.

The two shots from above startled Bixby and he began to sweat. Time and whatever happened in the belfry seemed to be working against him and he knew it was time to finish what he'd started. He pulled his revolver, aimed at Callen and shot him. Five shots rang out and Callen lay on the ground with all five bullets in his chest. Bixby turned the weapon on Kensi. Kensi had yelled at Bixby to stop but he hadn't and now the revolver was aimed at her.

Granger looked over the banister of the church and saw Marshall Callen laying in the dirt with Kensi Blye standing over him. He took aim and snuffed out that moment of elation that Alexander Bixby felt with a bullet to his brain. Granger then melted from the area and back to the saloon that Hetty owned. Before Bixby's body hit the ground several more shots rang out riddling his body with more bullets.

Hetty Lange bolted from Dr. Billing's office, to her son who lay bleeding on the ground. Deeks was by her side before she knew it, and he and Sam, who also materialized from nowhere, lifted Callen and brought him into Dr. Billing's surgery. Hetty had made sure Dr. Billings was inside long before anyone came to the Mercado because she felt this would be the outcome. She wished for once that she'd have been wrong.

Kensi followed them leaving Bixby's body lying in the square. His body would be taken care of later.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A/N Too late I became too smart. Looking up information on a subsequent story I looked up Flagstaff Arizona. Oops! The area wasn't known as Flagstaff until 1876. So those of you, who live there, please excuse me, allow me the poetic license. I also wanted you to know that the town of God's Fire is actually an area in Northeastern New Mexico called Angel's Fire. It is beautiful and I wish I could go back soon. Thank you to New Mexico and Arizona for being characters in my story. I love that area of our country.

Molly's POV

Grisha had left for Santa Fe at the beginning of November and Sam had left four days later after setting Grey Wing free from her captors. Tall Feather, her husband, came up to my cabin to thank both Sam and I for returning her and for the gift of two fine horses and their saddles. After Tall Feather left I felt Sam's potent urge to go grow so I said good-bye and asked that he hurry Grisha back to me.

Sam nodded, smiled and rode down to God's Fire and from there, presumably, to Santa Fe. He knew that Callen's fight wasn't over yet.

After a few days being alone again, I hitched Patsy to the wagon and drove down to God's Fire. Many things had changed or were in the process of changing. Amos Winkler had been fired as the manager of the trading post. It seems he'd been cheating people for many years: it came as no surprise to me. He and his wife left town and it is rumored that he headed west to the Arizona Territory and was going to work at a competitor's trading post. God's Fire and the Pueblo wouldn't miss him. The new manager, Mr. Smith, has arranged for better barter rates for my goods and gives the Pueblo better prices on their pottery and leather goods. That is much better for them.

The town was in the process of sprucing up as well. Gravel sidewalks were starting to be installed. It's not much but it does beat mud or dust when stepping directly in the street.

While driving through town I ran into Grey Wing and spent some time in girl talk. It was fun for both of us. It seems Tall Feather has decided that I am someone that he'd like his wife to be friends with after all. I invited her up to the cabin and she said she'd be up if the weather held.

As I started my drive back up the mountain I listened to the wind rustling through the bare trees. Branches scraped and some began to groan as the wind picked up and increased the the bend to those branches. The sky began to take on a darker essence, the temperature dropped and I knew there would be snow soon, quite possibly tonight.

Snow did come that night and it fell heavy and deep. It continued through the night into the next day. At noon there were eighteen inches of the white stuff. Before that I'd made my way to the barn to see to the animals. They still needed to be fed and watered. Patsy's stall needed to be mucked out as did the cows'. The chickens seemed happy all cooped up with their feed. After lunch I shoveled out to the barn once again. The snowflakes were growing larger and it seemed like the storm might be ending.

Just as I finished and was headed back to the house, two riders came into the yard. They were snow covered and their mounts looked as if they'd been pushed hard.

One voice carried through the driving snow. "Mrs. Reynolds, can we stay for a day or so?" It was Marshall Deeks and his wife, Kensi Blye the bounty hunter. I looked behind them checking for Grisha but he wasn't with them.

I waved them towards the barn to take care of their horses and went into the house to prepare something warm for them to eat and drink. The air was bitterly cold and they were not only fridgid but their clothing was wet as well. They needed warming, inside and out. The stove threw off some heat and I rewoke the fire in the hearth coaxing a few more degrees there as well.

Deeks and Kensi came through the door just as the soup came to a boil and the coffee had finished heating. They sat by the fire and warmed their insides with soup and their outsides for a while.

All the time they ate and chatted with me I sensed something a bit off from their normal behavior. Finally I could take it no more. I needed to know about Grisha. "Deeks, Kensi, I'm so glad to see you but something is wrong. Where is Grisha? What aren't you telling me?"

Kensi reached for her husband's hand and then took mine. "Callen was shot four days ago by Alexander Bixby. He still hung on when we left to come here. Sam is still with him in Santa Fe and he'll pull him through. He always has before. Callen promised he'd be back and he will; he always keeps his promises."

I had known something wasn't right and I knew Bixby would be the cause for it but I'd rather have been wrong. "And Bixby is he in jail?" My voice cracked as I said Bixby's name and tears came to my eyes.

Kensi squeezed my hand. "No, no he's not…. he's dead."

I let go of Kensi and started cleaning away the dishes and cups. I always busied myself when I feel upset or anxious. I felt the way I always do when the men in my life dessert me. Some of them left through no fault of their own like Evan and some because they had to leave like my father, but they left me just the same. Don't get me wrong, I grieved for Grisha and felt his loss but it angered me as well. I needed the time to accustom myself to this news.

Conversation grew still for a while. Deeks fell asleep in the chair and I let Kensi take the bed for her rest. I took out my knitting and worked on mittens. After a while I noticed that they were dark and somber colors. My mood had even pervaded my knitting.

It grew dark so I lit the lanterns and took one to the barn to see to my animals and my visitor's horses. I was engrossed in my work so I never heard Marshall Deeks come in. "Mrs. Reynolds, I can take care of our horses. You don't have to do it."

I smiled a crooked, sad smile at him. "Molly, please, and you're tired and need your rest. It's no bother to throw extra food to them."

Deeks bit the inside of his lip. "Molly it is then, but only if you call me Marty." He hesitated a moment, giving me that wonderful smile of his. "I need you to understand that Callen is a strong, healthy man. He'll come through this and be back here with you before you know it. Dr. Billings, in Santa Fe, is one of the best. Hetty keeps him on retainer for us. He'll fight like hell to get Callen up and moving again. Count on it Molly."

I nodded because I didn't know if I could speak at that moment. I'd been angry earlier and now sadness and intense pain overcame me. It felt like losing Evan all over again. Deeks escorted me into the house after he finished with their horses.

The two of them stayed two more days until they and their horses were rested.

Kensi mounted her horse and looked down at me. "Thank you so much for the hospitality and" she winked at me. "the cooking lessons. Sam may stop by on his way to Colorado and his home but I don't know when that might be. See you soon, I hope. Let us know how you're doing."

Deeks moved his horse out and turned back to wave. "See you soon Pretty Lady!"

It brought a chuckle to my lips. I waved as they began their way down to God's Fire and onward to Flagstaff. "Godspeed my friends." I murmured to their backs.

Christmas came and I went down to Christmas Service. It didn't live up to the wonder that it had in the past. New Years Eve was spent sitting on my cold porch watching the clouds cover the moon. I knew there'd be snow and sure enough there was some later in the night.

January passed and I became keenly aware of my loneliness. It was even deeper than two years ago, after I lost Evan. I'd hoped that Grisha would have returned by now. Maybe he'd decided not to come back after all. I went through my days taking care of my animals, planning my vegetable garden and I wanted to start a flower bed so I planned for that as well. I stacked firewood from the great pile Grisha had cut last fall, cleaned the cabin and knitted each night till my eyes closed of their own volition. While my days were full they were monotonous in their regularity. I longed for the days that I had with Grisha for company.

The weather had been snowy but relatively mild, but that was about to change. Late in February the snow began as a light dusting about mid-morn. By afternoon it came down so fast and heavy that I could just barely see the barn across the yard. The snow swirled about the yard and drifted against the end of the barn and the cabin. I shoveled several times to the privy to keep the path open. The darkness fell early and the snow came down harder, if possible. The temperature dropped significantly as well.

I'd just returned to the cabin from checking on the animals and feeding them for the night when a horse's whinny came from the yard. My heart raced at the similarity. Could it be him? I edged the door open a crack, hoping to not be disappointed. There stood Devil just like he did last fall, only this time there was a frozen, snow covered shape hunched over the saddle horn. From the look of him I'd have to guess he'd been in the saddle for a long time. I tried calling to the rider but the wind carried my voice in the opposite direction. My heart skipped a beat as I ran to Devil and watched Grisha slide from his saddle to the ground. I helped him up and into the house. I peeled the frozen coat from him, wrapped him in a quilt and placed him in the rocker close to the fire. I gave him some warm milk to soothe and warm his innards. When I felt sure he'd be alright, I went back out and led Devil to the barn to care for him as well. He'd been ridden hard and far. Patsy remembered him and nickered a quiet greeting to him. When I finished with Devil I grabbed Grisha's saddle bags and rifle and headed back inside to see to him.

Grisha had taken the time to change from his frozen, wet clothing into something from Evan's chest. He looked better, almost warm enough. He'd hung all his wet clothes by the fireplace to dry.

It was so good to have him back but I stood there like a schoolgirl, tongue-tied. I noticed then that we both looked to the other, grinning like idiots. Words were scare but our emotions ran rampant through the cabin.

I moved to the stove to warm more milk. After being in the barn for so long I needed a bit of warming. I heard Grisha moving behind me and then I felt his arms encircle my waist. His warm breath brushed through my hair and across my left ear. Having him this near to me was a dream fulfilled.

He breathed once more against my ear. "I've waited so long to be back here with you. I've missed our evenings, talking and watching you knit." There was that twinkle in his eyes that spoke to my heart.

I turned into his embrace. "It felt like a million years here without you. Welcome back." Our faces were just inches apart. He leaned in and our mouths met in a kiss most chaste. We pulled apart knowing that we both wanted more but would have to wait. The milk boiled over just then as if to bring us to our senses.

We sat in front of the fireplace drinking our milk. Grisha told me how they'd taken down Bixby and bout his recuperation from his wounds. It made me more appreciative of having him here, sitting beside me. It felt so natural having him here that I pulled out my knitting and started working on my current project.

Grisha watched as my needles flew. "What is that you're working on? Doesn't look like mittens."

I gazed into his handsome face. "It's a blanket for the bed. I started it after you left. It filled many a lonely night with work, hope and love."

He reached for my hands and took my project from them. Facing me with those blue eyes of his I felt his love pouring out. "There'll be no more loneliness, I hope, and as for love, there will be a lot of love. I promise that."

Epilogue

A month later Callen's family all met us in God's Fire to watch us marry.


End file.
